


liar liar

by chivalrousamour



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AU, F/M, tragic pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21583231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chivalrousamour/pseuds/chivalrousamour
Summary: Edelgard had been served loyally by Dedue ever since birth, while Hubert and Claude met at the academy, becoming quick friends.Dimitri, meanwhile, had a pigtailed girl orphaned by a tragedy in his service.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Comments: 16
Kudos: 93





	liar liar

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by this!
> 
> <https://kendrixtermina.tumblr.com/post/189080873010/vassalswap-au-time>

They meet when their world is ablaze and nothing but smoke is in their lungs. 

He's desperate to save someone, anyone, and her hand is the only one he could actually reach.

Pulling her out of the rubble, a girl around his age collapses the moment she's fully free. 

* * *

Her name is Hilda.

She was visiting relatives in Faerghus with her parents and brother, when, by chance, they got caught up in the attack.

It's not right, Dimitri thinks. It's not right that this happened, that so many died, that even the living and the innocent are scarred by the tragedy.

They tried to get her relatives to take her in, but the girl's aunt took one look at her burnt, scarred body, and said,

"She'll never get married looking like that. Not even her Crest could make up for it."

And the door was shut in their faces.

Hilda's only reaction was a sigh.

So Dimitri offers his hand to her once again, and asks if she'll join him in the castle.

Her gaze is piercing as she looks him over.

"As a knight?" she asks.

"You can do what you wish with your life," Dimitri replies. "It just wouldn't be right to leave you alone after what happened."

She burst into tears in response.

* * *

She has a talent for the axe, he learns, stumbling upon her in the training grounds. He had been wandering, kept up by nightmares, when he saw her practicing.

Hilda moves quickly and powerfully, but she tends to miss the target, he notices.

A wide swing makes the practice axe fly out of her hands and almost hit Dimitri in the face, lodging itself in the wall beside him. He couldn't contain a yelp at the threat, making Hilda flinch.

"Dimitri?! What are you doing here?!"

"Couldn't sleep. What about you?"

Hilda hesitates as he pries her axe out of the wall for her.

"...when we passed by the training grounds... there was an axe, just like the one my brother used," she says softly.

And Dimitri nods, knowing the feeling of wanting to chase down memories and ghosts, just for a moment.

"I'm nowhere near as good as he is, though..."

A sigh leaves her lips.

"Do you want to be a knight?" Dimitri asks. "There aren't many who use axes in the Kingdom, but I'm sure we can find someone to teach you."

"I don't know," comes Hilda's answer. "I don't think I can be a knight."

"Why?" 

Hilda pauses.

"I'm not good at fighting."

"That's fine. We can train together," Dimitri tells her. "Why not join me on a few training sessions before deciding what you want to do?"

"...okay," Hilda says, wondering if this way, she could at least be of use to someone.

(Maybe if she had been honest back then, things would have ended differently.)

* * *

The odd thing is, everyone expects Hilda to be overly grateful, overly loyal to Dimitri. They expect her to serve him without question, or something.

They always get surprised when Hilda jokes around with him and treats him casually.

Both of them are aware of it, but it's not until the two of them are fifteen that she brings up anything close to the subject, a week after his birthday.

"I don't like Faerghus' fairytales," she confesses, as she ties her hair up for their training session. "maybe it's because I'm from the Alliance, but... the endings are so sad!"

"What?" Dimitri replies, baffled by her words. "But the heroes always triumph over evil and save everyone!"

"Usually at the cost of their lives," Hilda retorts. 

"It's a noble death."

"Is that what being a knight means to you?" Hilda asks and Dimitri's stunned. "Because I won't die for you. I won't ever give up my life for anyone else."

And the oddest thing is--

Dimitri's relieved when he hears this.

"That's fine. I won't ask you to."

And Hilda smiles at him in return, making him freeze in place.

"Thanks, Dimitri."

* * *

They grow older and stronger, entering the Officer's Academy together. Dimitri becomes leader of the Blue Lions, while Hilda stays by his side.

The problem is, when she's so close to him, he can't help but notice things.

Like her smile. The way she laughs. How she ties her hair up for training. Her teasing jokes, her movements...

And the bigger problem is, when she's so close to him, she can't help but notice how he stares.

"You know, if you wanted to be my date for the ball, you could have just asked," she tells him with a grin, offering him her hand. "C'mon, Dimitri, you can't be afraid to reach out for what you want!"

And Dimitri takes her hand.

They share a dance right before their world goes to hell in a burst of flames once again.

* * *

In imprisonment, Dimitri doesn't sleep so much as he drives himself to exhaustion with desperate clawing at his restraints. 

In that state, he tended to see things lesser than dreams but greater than fantasies. The voices of the dead, their hands reaching up for him, screaming for vengeance--

When one day, he sees a hand reaching out for him.

Hilda stands before him, an axe covered in blood over her shoulder, a grin on her face.

"C'mon, Dimitri. Let's get out of here," Hilda says softly, just as the sounds of a magical alarm, the footsteps of more guards approaching quickly.

Hilda bites at her lip, before making her choice.

She cuts his chains in half with her axe, leaving the weapon behind in the stone floor before rushing out to meet the new arrivals.

"Wait--!" Dimitri screams, reaching out for her too late.

* * *

Dimitri's breath is heavy in the air as he runs, the stench of blood clinging to him as insistently as the hands of spirits. 

_'I won't die for you.'_

"You damn liar..." he says to the empty air, before bursting into laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> i don't have any explanation for how dedue serves edelgard or how hubert serves claude. i just dont.


End file.
